Are vegetarian and vegan restaurants holding back on delivery platforms?

The popularity of vegan and vegetarian cuisine has been steadily increasing for years. People are consuming less meat and other animal products such as eggs and dairy. Many reduce their consumption for animal welfare or environmental reasons, while others do so for health benefits. As a result, more people are opting for plant-based options.

This trend is expected to continue growing. For example, in the 1980s, vegetarianism and veganism were considered extreme, and there were very few plant-based options available. Today, the variety of plant-based products has expanded dramatically. According to reports by PETA, by 2050, more than 25% of the animal meat market is expected to be the vegan market, that is, the plant-based market.

We analyzed DoorDash, Ubereats, Justeats, Wolt, Takeaway, Foodora and Deliveroo in a period of one year in six veg-friendly countries—Australia, Germany, Spain, Italy, Sweden, and the United Kingdom—to see how this trend is reflected in food delivery platforms.

When looking at the number of vegan and vegetarian digital storefronts in these five countries, the UK stands out. The UK takes the lead with 48,535 vegan or vegetarian storefronts on digital platforms. This dominance is also reflected in the number of vegan or vegetarian digital storefronts per 10,000 inhabitants in the UK, which is 7.1. Australia follows with 4.1, and Sweden with 1.5 digital storefronts per 10,000 people. Germany and Spain trail with 0.5 and 0.6 vegan or vegetarian restaurants per 10,000 inhabitants, respectively.

Even though the UK has the most vegan and vegetarian options, Germany has seen the largest increase in the number of vegan and vegetarian digital storefronts in the past year. In Germany, the number of digital storefronts grew from 4,800 in 2023 to 6,400 in 2024, marking a significant 33% increase. Australia follows with a 13% increase, and Italy is close behind with a 12% rise. In contrast, the UK shows a small growth of just 0.5%.

When we look at the proportion of vegan and vegetarian restaurants compared to the total number of digital storefronts, the UK still leads the pack. But there's been a drop from 18.6% in 2023 to 15.5% in 2024. The only country where this share has slightly gone up is Sweden.

Looking at the total number of digital storefronts on food delivery platforms, this number is increasing relatively faster than the number of vegan/vegetarian restaurants.

Despite the growing interest in vegan and vegetarian diets, there can be a few reasons why we don't see more of these restaurants on food delivery apps:

Market Demand and Size, despite the increasing popularity, the vegan and vegetarian market is still relatively small compared to the overall food market. In many places, there simply isn't enough demand for vegan and vegetarian options to support a large number of restaurants dedicated solely to these diets. Also, many people still prefer traditional diets with meat and animal products, which means there's a bigger customer base for regular restaurants.

Restaurant Conversion and Menu Limitations, many restaurants on digital storefronts offer vegan and vegetarian dishes as part of their menu expansion. However, they often do not convert to fully vegan or vegetarian menus and, therefore, are not classified as entirely vegan or vegetarian. This leads to an underrepresentation of fully vegan or vegetarian restaurants on food delivery apps and are also not taken into account in this research. 

Economic and Visibility Challenges, it can be less attractive for vegan and vegetarian restaurants to be listed on food delivery platforms for a few reasons. They often have to pay more for specialty ingredients, which can be pricier than regular ones. Also, smaller vegan and vegetarian restaurants might not have much money to spend on advertising, making it harder for them to get noticed on these apps and attract customers.

While vegan and vegetarian cuisine gains popularity, its presence on food delivery platforms encounters challenges. Even though the UK has the most listings, the proportion of vegan and vegetarian options has gone down. Similarly, in Germany, although there are more listings, the share of vegan and vegetarian restaurants hasn't changed much. The only country where we notice a small increase in market share is Sweden. Barriers for vegan or vegetarian restaurants can be the small size of the niche market and financial constraints are holding back wider representation. 

We also have to take into account that only restaurants that are fully vegetarian or vegan are listed on food delivery apps and that other restaurants that offer a wider range than vegan or vegetarian are excluded from this research. The amount of vegan or vegetarian restaurants are not growing, but possibly the overall vegan food options are..

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